About Us

John Chapman makes hand crafted bags for travel, leisure, business and sporting activities. Our customers appreciate the contemporary approach we bring to classic English style and quality.

The company has been established for many years in Cumbria, England. The natural beauty of the surrounding Lake District and Borders has provided much of the inspiration for our bags.

We are one of the last remaining companies to make our bags exclusively in the UK in our own workshops. We also insist on only using materials of the highest quality, wherever possible from natural sources. Why do we do this?

We want to ensure the highest possible product quality; around 80% of the direct manufacturing cost of our bags is accounted for by the materials which go into making the bag
We believe our customers like to know that their bag was made by craftsmen and women without using harmful chemicals and in a responsible environment
We do not make throw away products. Customers sometimes send us their bags after many years' hard use for us to renew or repair because they have formed a personal bond with that bag. We can do this for them because we make the bags ourselves, instead of sourcing them from overseas

You can read more about how we make our bags, and the materials we use, below.

You can also see a Virtual Tour Video showing our workshops, people and manufacturing processes by following this link: Chapman Virtual Tour

We also love to hear stories about your Chapman bags. Click here to see further details.

Hand crafted bags

Our bags are manufactured at our Carlisle workshops. Like a hand tailored suit, the material for each bag is hand cut on the premises and constructed using traditional methods. This heritage underlies our reputation for quality and durability.

The Chapman signature

Every bag is individually checked throughout the manufacturing process. You will find a personally signed inspection ticket attached to your bag confirming it has met our rigorous standards.

Bespoke bag service

If you cannot find the bag you want in our range, we offer a bespoke bag service, through which a bag can be built to your personal specification. We also cater for corporate and trade clients. Please call us to discuss your requirements or email bespoke@chapmanbags.com or, in the case of corporate or trade enquiries, trade@chapmanbags.com.

Chapman bags are made almost exclusively from natural materials. We work with mainly UK suppliers from whom we source fabrics and fittings of proven quality.

	Pure cotton luxury We spare no expense in producing a multi-layered cotton canvas of the highest quality and purity. The unique bonding process used in its manufacture results in a soft, luxurious, strong and waterproof material. Many of our colours are uniquely dyed to our own specification and can only be found on a Chapman bag.
	Natural bonding process Our fabrics are made by bonding two layers of pure cotton drill with a natural rubber core. Unlike many other manufacturers, we do not use Polyurethane (PU) in this bonding process. Although cheaper, research has shown that PU bonding produces carcinogenic traces and, in any event, the material becomes brittle over time.
	Solid brass hardware Our fittings are cast from solid brass, sometimes with a nickel plating (to achieve a white metal finish), neither of which pit or rust.
	Best leather fittings Our leather fittings are cut from selected hides, which are vegetable tanned in one of our three standard leather colours of Papaya, Old Australian Nut or Dark Havana. One of these leather colours is specified to match each colour variant of a bag.
	Specially crafted tools The leather fittings for our bags are unique to John Chapman and are cut from tools specially crafted for the purpose.
	Cotton webbing Our webbing is 100% cotton and is of military grade quality. The original weave was designed to prevent parachute webbing breaking if damaged. The size and colour of the webbing is carefully specified to match each bag.
	Reliable fastenings We use a range of reliable fastenings, including our trademark clog ball or "Sam Browne" fastening, a small brass dome. This may seem a little stiff at first but will soon soften to a quick and easy motion.
	Double stitched zips We use the strongest brass zips obtainable, which are double stitched to the bag. We occasionally use nylon zips to avoid scratching, for instance on gun covers or tight pockets.